Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 67 Summer 2023 i Classic Dirt Bike

IN BALANCE Waiting in a section-queue during a trial is a great way to interact with a few fellow riders as we all watch some hapless victim negotiate the obstacles ahead. You know how it is and we’ve all done it… the theatrical breath-sucking followed by the knowledgeable nod as the rider on trial in the section gets caught up in the terrain and we pass a remark along the lines of “well, I’d have gone the other side of the rock…” or the “what’s he gone up there for? Much easier to the right/left/straight on…” As well as passing comment on the abilities of riders, section-queues are also places of discussion on lots of things and in a queue of riders on modern bikes in our charity trial on…

DIRT NEWS It’s fitting the Hackney speedway team has a celebration at Paradise Wildlife Park on May 13 and not just because its nickname is The Hawks. Paradise Wildlife Park was founded by former Hawks rider Peter Sampson after he retired from the sport. The park is not only one of the UK’s best wildlife attractions but also the site of the Speedway Museum which is where the World Speedway Riders’ Association will host Hackney Day. Finding Paradise Wildlife Park is quite easy, it’s in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. An invitation to attend has been sent to all surviving Hackney riders and already more than 30 have said they will be present, including three of the team’s Scandinavian stars – Bengt Jansson, Bo Petersen and Jens Rasmussen. The chief guest will, not…

Jude Morris was a talented youth motocross rider who lost his life while competing in the British Youth Championship in Duns, Scotland. Jude was a leading youth rider in the UK and his passion and dedication for the sport, coupled with his eagerness to help others, was admired by the MX community. Air Ambulances UK has created a Jude Morris Innovation and Development Fund for projects up to £10,000 that contribute to saving even more lives, improving patient outcomes and improving service provision through innovative clinical and operational developments – something the Jude Morris family and the foundation feel is an amazing tribute to Jude. The Jude Morris Racing Foundation donates 20% of all the money raised to Air Ambulances UK, something that is often needed in motocross in order…

Every competitor likes to experience the high of winning. It doesn’t matter if it’s crossing the line ahead of the pack in an MX GP or a first class award in a club trial; there’s nothing better for a competitor than the adrenaline rush success creates. Equally it’s doubtful anyone lines up at the start of an event and doesn’t think they could win. At my end of things the thinking often goes: “Well if they all drop out then I could do well here…” But the fact remains none of us sets out to lose, it’s probably been the same way since the dawn of time and if there is one thing which intrigues us as competitors, it is: just how do you win? On the face of it…

A picture surfaced a week or so ago. It was a picture which pulled my attention back through time to those carefree days when I only had one motorcycle in the garage. It was a pic of a 325 Bultaco which I’d bought new in 1977 but while a memory jogger it isn’t quite the point of this tech feature. The point is there was only one motorcycle to work on to prepare for the next weekend and it got the total focus of my attention. How things have changed… despite a recentish clearout of bikes in the admirable hope of finding truth in the saying ‘less bikes means more work better’ there appears to be more of the things in the workshop. In part this is because the pile…

There was a phrase often in print about the SSDT and it went “Feet up in Fort William” – the base for the SSDT in case you weren’t sure. As the base for the Pre65 is a few miles away in Kinlochleven “Clean in Kinlochleven” could be a similar catchphrase although “Catch you in Kinlochleven” sounds better. So, did we catch you in Kinlochleven in 2023? Were you one of the 200 riders wondering if the Thursday rain was going to last for the trial too on Friday and Saturday? Luckily day one – April 28 – dawned dry and sunny as 200 riders lined up for the start in the Alcan car park in Kinlochleven. Ahead stretched 20 miles or so of fabulous trials terrain. CBD was at the…

From our 2023 viewpoint we know Dave Thorpe – the MXer not the trials rider – made good on the predictions for success he had heaped on him as he graduated from the youth sport ranks to adult MX in 1981. We know the lad took three world 500cc MX titles and if you bought his book at Telford earlier this year you will know these titles were in 1985, 1986 and 1989 when he bested the world aboard his factory Honda. However our pic was taken in 1982 when Nick Nicholls caught the then up-and-coming youngster during the British 500cc MX GP at Farleigh Castle. In those days it was Kawasaki who spotted Thorpe’s potential and team manager Alec Wright quickly signed him up. MotorCycle Weekly was on hand…

For the best in off-road action this summer head for the stunning setting of Drumlanrig Castle on May 20-21 when the Galloway MCC will present the Scottish Grand National 2023 off-road festival. Where else are you going to get a scramble and a trial with a stately home as a backdrop other than in Dumfries and Galloway? What a setting it is and what a track it is too. The club lays out a great track which suits both riders who want to race and spectators who want to watch them race. Maybe you’re more of a feet-up rider and trials riding is your thing? If so then you’ll not be disappointed as there are two days of trials action too. Presiding over this spectacular weekend are two legends from…

Keeping the rear wheel in contact with the ground has long been viewed as a way to win races. Yes it’s very spectacular when MXers leap hundreds of feet in the air and do fancy loops but if you’re in the air, you’re going nowhere. Once the idea rear suspension was a good thing for off-road motorcycles caught on, the battle was under way to make it work as well as it could. Most suspension in the early days involved a fork generally known as a swinging arm pivoting on a spindle behind the engine and two hydraulic units connecting either side of the rear wheel spindle end of the fork to the frame. For years this was enough, people played with spring-rates and manufacturers experimented with unit length but…

1. Tied down We all want our bike to be secure in the van or on the trailer and things have moved on a long way since the days when we used a length of rope to do the job. Tie-down straps with a securing ratchet in are fabulous things and quickly secure a motorcycle safely in place and take only seconds to release. But there’s a metal hook at the end of them and it doesn’t always fit around whatever part of the bike is being secured and can rub against the bike. This is where these loop accessories from Sealey come in; they’ll slip around a fork leg, frame tube or handlebar and make the ratchet strap more versatile and keep the metal bit away from the bike.…

Is it any great revelation the Spanish industry used its trials bikes as a base for a trail machine? No, I don’t suppose it is and the concept is a great way to produce a civilised trail or ‘about town’ machine for not a lot of extra production cost. With the frame, engine, wheels and suspension the same for both the trail and trials version, very little extra was needed to complete the job. Perhaps a slightly larger gearbox sprocket to raise the overall gearing as ultra-slow riding for observed sections wasn’t needed on the trail bike, meant a more relaxed ride at reasonable speeds. Full lighting was easily fitted and ran direct so once the engine fired the lights came on; add a slightly larger petrol tank, a longer…

Write to us at: ClassicDIRTbike, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ. CDBeditor@mortons.co.uk Butler a la français In CDB issue 62 you had a report on a Butler trials machine but it was very different from the original model. Please find here some photos of our last restoration for our Musee de la Moto Tout Terrain – a 250 Butler Tempest from 1964. We bought this bike a long time ago and it was in storage for many years and it too has had some modifications in the past. The original mudguards had been changed for aluminium items. So with help of original photos we have rebuilt patterns and manufactured moulds for glass fibre mudguards. The bike is now in the original specification. I will be happy to welcome you…

Looking for a classic to race or trial or enduro? Have a glance at Charterhouse. The auction house is holding a couple of sales later this year and will have bikes such as this 1973 Bultaco Pursang going under the hammer. A competitive machine in the Midlands during the 1980s classic scene, it was last raced in 1995. The bike has had some work done but will need recommissioning before being raced. Charterhouse auctions are on June 29 and October 5 at the company’s Long Street salerooms, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3BS. Go to www.charterhouse-auction.com for more details.…

Although Greeves motorcycle production may have ceased in 1976, interest and indeed passion for the marque has never diminished. Enthusiasts for Greeves fall into two basic categories. One group is interested in the history of Greeves, the various models manufactured or maybe they want to own, restore, exhibit and ride a true classic motorcycle. In 1984 a small group of Greeves enthusiasts, mainly from the Southend, Essex area got together and formed the Greeves Riders Association. This single-make club has gone from very small beginnings to a major influence within the classic motorcycle scene with more than 600 members. The other group of enthusiasts are interested in what most Greeves motorcycles were designed to do, compete and race. With Greeves machines covering a 20-year development programme three classes were decided…

The world doesn’t seem to breed characters these days but, in the not-so-distant past, characters did emerge forged in the crucible of off-road motorcycle sport and thanks to both ITV and BBC’s scheduling departments some of these characters became household names. Used as a winter filler when football or horse racing couldn’t be held because of the weather, scrambling proved extremely popular and commentators such as Murray Walker enthusiastically described a blob of mud we were assured was Dave Bickers as he crossed the line well ahead of other blobs of mud. Now, armchair sports enthusiasts who’d probably never been to a scramble in their lives were introduced to the likes of Dave but would know little about him. In those pre-internet days newspapers supplied the information and David Geoffrey…

Anyone who has ever been daft enough to take on a project will know the big bits are fairly easy to sort and it is the little bits which cause the most frustration and bother. I suppose we all already know this yet still we tackle projects with lots either damaged or missing and we’re certain the problems will be minor and easily sorted. They never are but it doesn’t stop us taking them on. The Yamaha IT465 which came our way some years ago… way too many years really… was in a really bad state, having been abused by a previous owner somewhere in the US. By the time it came to us the problems were masked and it was only later on it was suggested this bike had…

At first it seemed the weather was going to upset the plans of Westmorland Motorclub Ltd’s scramble on St George’s Day. After a day of glorious weather, Saturday dawned with torrential rain which threatened to turn the Westmorland County Showground into a quagmire. However, Sunday arrived and so did the sunshine which meant instead of the expected mudbath, reminiscent of the TV scrambles in the Sixties, the track was in almost prime racing condition. On a track laid out to suit the terrain and the motorcycles which would be racing on it, the day saw a race card with 22 races covering the new 125 series, Pre78 Open championship, Twinshock 125, Twinshock 250 plus age categories too. All this added up to a great day’s racing. Riders familiar with the…

Well, were you there? Did you go back to Telford for 2023 and catch up with the best of the best in whichever discipline of off-road sport does it for you? After enforced restrictions to deal with Covid meant the cancelling of 2021’s show and the uncertainty of 2022’s ‘will it, won’t it’ as the world emerged dazed from the pandemic then 2023 was definitely a return for what has become the ‘must go to’ show in our world. There were bike displays, club stands, traders, enthusiasts selling autojumble, enthusiasts just catching up and everyone in between. On stage master of ceremonies John McCrink conducted lively interviews with 2023’s guest star, three-time world MX champion Dave Thorpe, and plenty of other stars of the off-road world. As the show was…